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 Some local governments in Illinois have continued to contract
with Redflex Traffic Systems Inc. despite the company’s well-known history of
corruption, according to a review of village and city records.
At least five municipalities close to Chicago – Gurnee, Carol Stream, Olympia
Fields, North Chicago and Bellwood – still use Redflex as their red-light camera
vendor, according to documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act
request.
Allegations of the red-light camera vendor’s long-running bribery scheme in
Chicago first surfaced in 2012, leading the city to sever its ties with Redflex.
Between 2015 and 2016, both Redflex and Chicago officials received federal
prison sentences in what many recognize as one of the city’s biggest bribery
scandals.
Scattered across the suburbs
Redflex gained notoriety for facilitating a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme
in Chicago, during which the city’s red-light camera program became the largest
in the nation. And in 2013, a fired Redflex executive alleged that the company
gave bribes and gifts to officials in “dozens of municipalities” across 13 other
states.
Despite the company’s scandal-ridden history, suburban Gurnee, Carol Stream,
Olympia Fields, North Chicago and Bellwood still maintain municipal red-light
camera contracts with Redflex.
Gurnee, home to 12 red-light cameras – the most among the five suburbs –
extended its contract with Redflex in May 2012, and again in June 2015. “Our
relationship has been consistently positive and there has been no impropriety in
our dealings, which led to the decision to continue to work with [Redflex],”
Gurnee Police Chief Kevin Woodside wrote in response to a request for comment.
Gurnee’s red-light camera program has brought in nearly $10 million over the
past nine years.
Carol Stream’s contract with Redflex was originally due to expire in December
2013. But the village board voted unanimously to renew the contract in October
of that year, extending Redflex’s services through December 2018. According to
board meeting minutes, Village Manager Joe Breinig stated that “Redflex has
addressed the issues leading to publicity in the City of Chicago” and that there
was “no indication of impropriety” in Carol Stream.
Olympia Fields, a village in the southwest Chicago suburbs with a population of
less than 5,000, operates 4 Redflex red-light cameras. Since beginning its
red-light camera program in 2008, the program has brought in more than $3.6
million. Village President Sterling M. Burke said that the village’s decision to
initiate and extend its contract with Redflex predates his tenure in office, and
that he has little knowledge of the process. “All will be considered when time
to renew comes around,” Burke said.
North Chicago and Bellwood officials did not return requests for comment. North
Chicago operates three Redflex red-light cameras and Bellwood operates four
red-light cameras.
 Other municipalities that contracted with Redflex in the past have since moved
on to different vendors, with local officials noting the company’s checkered
past.
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Highland Park, for example, continued to commission
Redflex until March 2017, when the city’s contract with the company
expired. In May 2016, City Council voted against renewing the city’s
Redflex contract, citing the Chicago bribery trial and federal
investigation. “Given what has been written in the news concerning
Redflex, I have to say I am not comfortable going forward with the
approval of this vendor,” Mayor Nancy Rotering said at the time. The
city initially approved a month-to-month extension deal between July
2013 and February 2014, despite earlier reports of wrongdoing,
followed by a fixed two-year contract. Highland Park has since
switched red-light camera vendors to Gatso USA.
Redflex also operated two red-light cameras in the village of Orland
Park until 2016 and January 2018, respectively.
In February 2017, Redflex settled a lawsuit with the city of
Chicago, agreeing to pay the city $20 million. Following the
settlement, however, Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration lifted the
city’s suspension of Redflex, making the company once again eligible
to bid on city contracts.
Revenue vs. safety
A recent study from Case Western Reserve University, or CWRU, found
that red-light cameras likely do not increase traffic safety.
Researchers looked at traffic accident data from Houston, which
operated its red-light camera program from 2006 to 2010, and found
that while T-bone collisions did indeed decrease during that time,
non-angle collisions, such as rear-end crashes, actually increased.
Moreover, rather than reducing traffic accidents, the study found
that red-light enforcement cameras may have increased accidents
overall.
Although a 2017 report paid for by the Chicago Department of
Transportation, or CDOT, recommended Chicago continue its red-light
camera program, CWRU’s less favorable findings follow that of other
independent research on red-light camera programs.
Moreover, the Chicago Tribune reported in September 2017 that the
Illinois Department of Transportation, or IDOT, often ignores its
own policies by approving permits for red-light camera enforcement
at intersections the agency has already identified as safe. IDOT
sets an accident threshold to determine whether an intersection
would benefit from red-light enforcement cameras. However, more than
half of the intersections for which IDOT approved permits rated
among the safest in IDOT’s own studies at the time of approval.
Ending red-light cameras
Red-light cameras inspire little trust in local government, and can
impose unfair financial burdens on residents subject to such
programs. Municipalities that continue to contract with Redflex
despite the company’s history only affirm residents’ low trust in
their political leaders.
Communities across the country are growing increasingly wary of
red-light cameras. Less than 420 communities nationwide use
red-light cameras, as of October 2018, according to the Insurance
Institute for Highway Safety. That’s a significant decrease from
their 2012 peak, when about 540 communities operated red-light
cameras.
Local governments across Illinois should discontinue their red-light
camera programs – especially those that have continued to reward a
company with a glaring history of corruption.
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